www.thepeoplesvoice.org

War is always a source of misery for many that stand in its path but sometimes one cannot avoid a war.  After 9/11 it was clear we must address the source of this attack on US soil.  And the source of the attack on 9/11 and was in Afghanistan.  When the US launched its forces to attack positions of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, shortly after 9/11/2001, there was almost unanimous support worldwide. The Taliban had provided a safe haven for Al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden. And they were a danger not just to us.  Unfortunately from the beginning the war in Afghanistan was not done properly.  We never committed even 1/5th the number of troops to Afghanistan compared to those sent to Iraq. If we had put in place the resources that later were committed for Iraq we would have gotten rid of Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. 

But instead a decision was made to invade Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with the tragedy of 9/11/2001 nor posed any threat to us. And once the invasion of Iraq was undertaken, military resources in Afghanistan were cut. The Taliban and Al Qaeda are a cancer and giving 7+ years for this cancer to grow unabated is a very long time, as a map of Afghanistan from 2007 shows.

But our war in Iraq did not only give them time to regroup, it also served another purpose for the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It helped them recruit a lot of new members. They could point to Iraq and say that US is fighting Islam because there was no other reason to attack Iraq. Perception is often reality. Extremists love to hate each other. They need this hate to exist and to grow. Just like we have people among us who still believe there were WMDs in Iraq and that we were correct in invading Iraq, there are extremists in other societies who put our actions in the worst light. Just like when an extremist action or story comes up from over there it gets splashed across the ‘conservative’ media channels, similarly statements made here by people saying the war in Iraq was correct and there were WMDs there and Iraq was a threat are splashed by extremists and used as recruiting tools. Hate feeds each other. Hate is a powerful emotion and used by extremists to great advantage on both sides.

So today Saddam Hussein is dead and Osama bin Laden, as far as we know, is still alive. Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11. Osama bin Laden was the head of the organization that carried out the attacks on 9/11.  The greatest tragedy of the Invasion of Iraq is that it started an unnecessary war that replaced a war we should have fought. The rush to invade a nation without any proof of them attacking us was not only immoral it also took us away from fighting an enemy who clearly attacked us.  As we are preparing to leave Iraq, by the looks of it, the government we leave may leave shortly too. And it could be that there is no lasting positive impact of our invasion of Iraq.

Morality requires us to have the courage to admit when we are wrong. The decision to invade Iraq was an immoral decision. And our decision today to justify this immoral war only helps to strengthen this enemy today.  We have in Afghanistan right now what can best be described as a propped up puppet government which, because if its bad actions, often has less support among the population compared to the Taliban.  Many experts believe that it is no longer possible to win the war in Afghanistan.  We can only pray that things work out in Afghanistan for us and for its people and there is some path to Peace and Justice.